Sparklings in Danger
by Prime627
Summary: The Autobots and a couple of sparklings take refuge in a house after their base was destroyed, but now that they are safe and tucked away, the Decepticons aren't their only problem they have to face. They have fallen prey to the master of Eel Marsh House, Jennet Humfrye and a crew of black-eyed children she calls her own. Now she has her eyes set on Autobot sparklings.
1. Chapter 1

They took shelter in the old house, curling in on themselves as they shuffled the little sparklings ahead of them. They stroked their heads in a soothing way, pulled the water out of their hair, and patted them dry with towels that they had managed to smuggle from their previous base before it was destroyed by the enemy. The medic set up base, treating the wounds the others had with a small bottle of clear liquid and guaze wrap. One eye was lost, another hand was damaged, and an ear was singed. That was the worst of the injuries.

The leader stroked the heads of his team, then he walked around the room they were standing in. "We will investigate this place in the morning. Ratchet, set up the inflatable berths and put the sparklings in them. Arcee, sleep with them. Keep them out of trouble. You know how the little ones get."

Arcee nodded and laid down with the others, smiling and gently stroking a little girl's head as she slept. "Such pretty little ones..."

Her voice echoed in the room and the soft comment aggrivated the ears of an angry spirit.

The woman stood on the stairs, dozens of black-eyed children standing behind her in their pajamas, play clothes, and beautiful dresses and suits.

The group of mechs and the femme didn't see her. She would make herself visible soon enough. She led the troop of children back up the stairs, put them in the playroom, and started to rock in her chair as she watched them watch her. They had lost all interest in playing when she took them, which saddened her, so she was attracted by the pretty giggles of the little ones, but once she had her hands around their throats, they were dead and they lost their childish states.

The sound of the chair rocking echoed down to the group of mechs, who were on high alert through the night, but they weren't going to investigate after Optimus already asked for them to stick together. The sparklings were getting restless, but they were mostly asleep.

Bulkhead was restless as he clutched his ration of Energon. "Optimus, I don't like this."

"We will leave when everyone is healed..." He looked at him, his ear damaged. Wheeljack blinked his single eye at him.

"Prime, I don't mean to step on your pedes, but Bulkhead's not really a coward, so if he wants to leave, it's either because something is really spooking him, or there's a scraplet infestation."

Optimus sighed and he looked around the room. "Nothing is bothering us. So we will stay until everyone is ready to travel. The sparklings are exhausted."

The night watch was posted (Wheeljack and Ultra Magnus) and Optimus laid down on the cold floor. He thought he imagined whispering, but he dismissed it.

 _Never forgive. Never forgive. Never forgive._ NEVER FORGIVE!


	2. Chapter 2

Optimus woke them up in the morning and made sure everyone was alright.

The sparklings: Deerstep, Barley, Appleseed, and the week old female baby Lily.

All sparklings were accounted for and all mechs (Wheeljack, Ultra Magnus, Bulkhead, Bumblebee, Smokescreen, Ratchet, and Optimus himself) and the femme (Arcee) were there.

"This is a strange place," Optimus began. "I do not recommend going out on your own. We must buddy up."

Wheeljack wrapped his arms around Bulkhead's neck. "Dibs!"

Ultra Magnus and Ratchet looked at each other and groaned at the same time. Neither of them were pleased about this arrangement, but they didn't protest.

Smokescreen latched onto Bumblebee immediately.

"I guess that leaves myself and Arcee." Optimus nodded at his mate and he purred softly. She looked down at their daughter, Lily, who squealed in delight.

Had they been paying attention, a black spirit took its post on the stairs and watched the little baby jealously.

Optimus knelt and lifted his daughter. "And the sparklings will stay with the groups as well. No sparkling leaves without a buddy. Do you understand?"

The sparklings clung to Optimus' legs, Appleseed climbing up his jeans to hug his hips. Barely, the only mech, wrapped his arms around the Prime's leg and kept clinging while Optimus passed out the sparklings.

Lily to Arcee, Deerstep to Wheeljack and Bulhkead, Appleseed to Bumblebee and Smokescreen, and then Barley to Ratchet and Ultra Magnus.

"Keep them out of trouble."

Ratchet held Barely protectively, having gotten fond of the little one. He set Barely down and kept him close, letting the sparkling cling to his legs just as he had done to Optimus. Ultra Magnus snorted and looked like he was going to walk away, but he merely walked around Ratchet in a circle as he looked up and around.

"I do not like it here, sir."

Optimus was busy helping Arcee fold up the inflatable beds and the soft blankets, so he didn't answer for a while. "I am sure it will look better when we open the curtains and clean the windows and let some sunshine in."

Barely hooked his legs and arms firmly around Ratchet's legs when the medic started to move towards the next room, which was the kitchen.

"Optimus, if I may, shouldn't we explore soon?"

"We will, as a _group_ , and keep the sparklings close. I do not care if you have to duct tape them to your backs, no one leaves without taking tabs on your assigned sparkling."

Appleseed yawned and sat on Bumblebee's shoulders as the mute ripped open the curtains and they both squinted at the beach just outside. "WATER!"

Optimus walked to the window and he touched Appleseed's head. He ruffled her red hair and he chuckled when she jumped into his arms. "We may go swimming later...but first, let us set up a playroom for you little ones."

The sound of a door squeaking open made everyone look up at the stairs. No one had gone up since they arrived, and now Optimus was concerned.

"Perhaps it's the wind?" Ultra Magnus took a step to be at Optimus' side.

Bumblebee chittered as he tugged on Optimus' jacket, pointing to the trees. They did not bend or even move.

Optimus grunted and he moved forward, reaching the bottom of the stairs in four strides. "Perhaps not. The house might have settled or...something." Arcee was at his side in an instant and he nodded at her to make sure she understood she did the right thing.

The mates climbed the stairs, Lily clutching Arcee's blue shirt as she blinked clear blue eyes around the dark hallway.

Optimus made a beeline to the door that was swinging gently open, gently closed. He touched the cold knob and pushed the door open. There was a rocking chair by the window and toys strewn around the room, something he would expect in a nursery. The one's on Cybertron were not different. "Mmm.."

Lily shrieked and pointed at a beautiful old doll in a dress, but Optimus patted her hand and tucked it back against Arcee's chest. "That is not yours, little one. If you desire a doll, I will find you one that you may have and keep, okay?"

Lily switched her grip to Optimus' scarf and she pulled herself against his chest. Optimus wrapped his arms around her and they walked out of the room. The door slammed, nearly catching Arcee's foot.

"Primus," she swore, jumping back and staring at it. She looked at Optimus, who scowled.

"This place..." He looked around. "Has a history."

The Orion Pax bit of him wanted to jump right in and dig around the old chests and find out what exactly that history was, but the Optimus part of him won out and he walked down the stairs to the others, who were setting out equipment and making sure it all worked. Data pads, computers, scanners, Energon refiners... Only one data pad didn't start up right away and Ratchet went immediately to fixing it.

Optimus watched the group, then he looked back up at the stairs. Something black flicked across the hall and the Prime frowned, but he shook his head and sighed. "Come on," he said to the sparklings. They smiled up at him.

"Let us go and look at the other rooms, shall we?"

Ratchet gave Barley to Optimus and remained with Ultra Magnus as he fiddled with the data pad. Optimus took a hand in each of his and he led them into the room on the left, which was open and empty.

Arcee touched the wall, looking up at the ceiling. Lily reached out to touch the wall as well. "It could have been a dining room."

"Or the living room."

Barely lt go of Optimus' hand to run to the next door, but Optimus pulled him back. "One room at a time..." He stroked his black hair back and smiled, guiding the sparkling back to the others.

Through the hole in the ceiling, Jennet watched Lily and Barley with hungry eyes.

Optimus felt as though he was being watched, but he dismissed it. He was wary of everything that posed a threat to his family. He assured himself that nothing in this house could hurt him or his beloved family.

He couldn't have been more wrong.

Jennet was ready to strike and take what had been taken from her.

A child.

Specifically, a son.


	3. Chapter 3

Barley was playing with Appleseed and Deerstep, Arcee watching over them with Lily in her lap when Jennet made herself seen to the little boy. Optimus was on the other side of the room, patching a wall to keep the cold air outside.

Ratchet was supposed to be keeping tabs on the little one, but he had become distracted with malfunctioning tech and flickering lamps, so Barley slipped out of the room unnoticed.

Unnoticed until Ultra Magnus scooped him up and the spell was broken. Barley clung to him, the other Autobots running over.

Optimus took Barley from him. "What were you thinking? Walking away. Did I not inform you to stay with the others?"

But Barley was staring at him in confusion. "How did I get here?"

The Autobots stared at him for a moment before Optimus sighed and he stroked his head. "Just stay with the others, okay?" He set him down and watched Barley run back into the room to tackle Appleseed to the ground.

Optimus looked out the window as the sun set and he rolled out the mattresses. While Bulkhead inflated them, he scooped the sparklings up and deposited them on one.

Arcee laid Lily down when Bulkhead finished inflating the two mattresses. Optimus laid on the other side of the mattress, rubbing Lily's head before he laid his own down on a flat pillow he had found in a closet. Barley and Deerstep curled up together on the one behind Optimus. Appleseed crawled onto the bed to curl up around Lily. Optimus briefly opened his eyes to watch them before he closed them again and sighed through his nose.

 **ooo**

Barley woke up to the sound of singing. He pulled out of Deerstep's arms and sat up to see the door to go outside swing open gently. A little girl in a pretty dress was waiting for him. She flashed him a brilliant smile, then bolted. She was followed by what must have been twenty other kids. Barley, after a moment's hesitation, was suddenly curious. Who were those kids? Where were they going? He got up and ran after them. The door slammed shut behind him.

He followed the children to the beach. They were spinning in circles, but as they continued to celebrate under the moon, they lost their appeal. They were slowing down, their arms were getting limp. Their skin was paling and losing whatever pink tint Barley had seen. Their eyes were black and they stared at him for a long moment before they turned and walked into the water. They must not care about their clothes getting wet, Barley thought. He watched them, about to turn, but he felt a hand on his shoulder and he looked up.

She was dressed in a black dress with a matching veil over her face. He could only see her black eyes. His own eyes darkened and he looked out over the water and he slowly took a step forward.

The woman stood by and watched the little boy try to keep up with the others. Then he was gone, and the bubbles ceased to rise. She turned and walked back to the house. The door opened for her, and there was her new child, dripping still from the water. The others stood behind him and she led them up the stairs. She looked back at the sleeping group, stared the medic for the longest time who had stared at her only hours earlier and dismissed her as a creation of his mind. Well, he would soon learn in time, wouldn't he?

 **ooo**

When Optimus woke up, he knew something was wrong. It was colder than it should have been. He sat up and cursed. The door was standing wide open. "Who went outside?" He got up and shut it, then turned back to the group.

Bumblebee and Smokescreen had sat up immediately upon hearing their leader's voice. They noted the presence of Appleseed, then stood up. Bumblebee went to retrieve an Energon cube and Smokescreen followed him close behind.

Wheeljack waved his hand dismissively. "Someone probably didn't shut it or something and the wind blew it open." Bulkhead grunted in agreement and rolled back over. They remained like that until Ratchet tore up the inflatable beds.

"Where's Barley?"

The Autobots set out, Ratchet and Ultra Magnus in the left room, Smokescreen and Bumblebee to the kitchen, Wheeljack and Bulkhead to the right room, and Optimus and Arcee went upstairs, Lily held tightly in her mother's arms. Deerstep and Appleseed were with their groups, both of them clinging like paranoid kittens.

Optimus found most of the doors were locked and the ones that weren't held no secrets in their rooms. He shut them and sighed. "He could not have gone outside, could he?"

Arcee stiffened and she ran to the nearest window that overlooked the beach. "Why would he go outside in the night?"

"Barley always thought he was invincible," Optimus said as he stood behind her.

They both saw it at the same time.

A pale little body caught in the debris of a fence.

Optimus cried out, all Autobots alerted to the cry and they followed him outside. The Prime dropped to his knees beside the body and he gently teased the little one out of the debris, slowly moving the head to see its face.

It was Barley, just barely recognizable. His lips were blue, his face was strangly bloated and it had been cut up by whatever was in the sea water... Optimus scooped him up and looked back at the team, shaking his head as he turned to face them. "Get me a blanket," he whispered.

Ratchet tore off to find Barley's blanket, then he helped the Prime wrap the body up in the blue fabric.

The other sparklings were turned away by Bumblebee, who couldn't look at Barley himself. Smokescreen gave his shoulder a pat, shaking his head sadly.

"Optimus, this is my fault..." The medic sat back on his heels as he knelt in the sand, staring at the wrapped body. "He was my charge, I should have paid closer attention..."

Optimus reached across to touch Ratchet's shoulder. "I blame no one for this accident." Then he got up and lifted the body. It was unexpectedly heavy now.

He walked back to the house, finding the bus that he had driven to get away from the Decepticon attack. It had been the handiest thing there at the time, and it was sitting there, waiting for him with the keys in the ignition and everything. Now it would serve as the place to lay Barley until they could get out of there. He supposed they could just drive, but unless they found more gasoline, they weren't going to make it all the way to the dead village. He sighed and laid Barley down in the seat he had sat in coming here. Then he left the body and guided everyone back into the house. He thought they would be safe there.

Jennet watched from the top of the stairs, stroking Barley's head. She was quickly growing bored of him, though. He wasn't giggling or chasing the others like he had with Deerstep and Appleseed. Perhaps, she thought, he was missing his little friends. She focused on the remaining girls, who were quiet and lethargic in their grief. Maybe they would liven up when they were reunited? She certainly thought so.


	4. Chapter 4

A storm was rolling in. Ratchet couldn't get the electric lights to work, so they were left to fumble in inexperience with matches, candles, and oil lamps. Bumblebee became a regular firebug, lighting all the oil lamps and candles easily on the ground floor. He chirped and chirred the whole time, letting Appleseed sit on his shoulders. He let her hold a little candle that he had found in the kitchen, then he walked into the main room again, smiling at Optimus.

But Optimus was busy. He kept Deerstep close, trying to get her to hug his leg like Barley used to, but she sat on or between his feet. He had to move carefully to not crush her little fingers or leave her behind when he forgot about his little passenger.

Wheeljack and Bulkhead were posted, facing the right room and the left room while Ultra Magnus faced the stairs a little closer to the center. Bumblebee and Smokescreen stood closest to Arcee, Optimus, and the remaining sparklings, who were placed in the center of the room on the inflatable mattresses. This formation reminded Optimus of how bison would line up to protect their young, only there weren't so many layers in the protective circle. Optimus looked around and froze. Fear trickled through his body, his Energon in his veins chilled with it.

"Where is Ratchet?"

 **ooo**

Ratchet had left the group without Ultra Magnus, thinking that his partner would follow. He did not. Ratchet found himself in the cellar by himself. He groaned. Optimus would never forgive him now. But, atleast they would have more light. He found what he was looking for: candles. He grabbed the box of them and began to walk back to the stairs when he saw someone standing in front of him. He scowled. "You again? I thought I told you _don't exist._ You are in my mind." He rapped his knuckles against his head, then watched as she turned and padded up the stairs. Ratchet followed her, expecting to see her, but she was gone.

She had what she needed, after all. She wouldn't stick around after getting what she wanted.

Optimus was the first to break the circle to run at Ratchet, anger in his eyes. "Where were you?"  
"Losing my mind in the cellar. Everytime I turn around, it seems, I see that blasted woman in black..." He set the box of candles down and he picked up a candle, meaning to light it. But Optimus stopped him.

"What?"

Ratchet looked at him. "I've been seeing a woman just standing around in a black dress with a veil. She just stares at me, then I tell her off, and she disappears. Don't worry about my mental health, Optimus, I'm pretty sure I'm imagining all this."

Optimus just stared at him. A woman in black? Just standing there? He thought about the times he had seen something black dart across his vision and he shook his helm. "Why did you not tell anyone?"

"Because I thought I was going crazy!"

Arcee stepped between the two mechs. "Guys! Appleseed is gone."

Optimus whipped around, snarling to hide his fear as he ran back to the others while they called for Appleseed, but she didn't run up and latch herself around anyone's legs.

There was the sound of a door slam and Optimus took off, Bumblebee and Smokescreen on his heels.

Optimus marched to the door at the end of the hall. He could hear quiet hushings and soothing murmurs. He focused on that door and that alone while Bumblebee and Smokescreen scrabbled to unlock a door, any door.

He slammed his shoulder against the door and it opened without a single protest.

Appleseed was sitting in the middle of the room, tears rolling down her cheeks. But just as Optimus ran to her to hold her close, before Appleseed could shout a warning, the door slammed shut and it locked behind him.

That was when Lily and Arcee began to scream.

Optimus held Appleseed against his chest as he got to his feet. He touched the door and he growled. He looked at the only window and was about to take a step toward it when the toys in it started to operate. A monkey shook two musical instruments as it danced, rattling noises making Optimus glare at it. He felt the room's temperature drop and he tucked Appleseed closer to his chest, zipping her into his jacket so she was shielded from the sight that had just appeared.

Children. Children of all ages, sizes, and classes stood in the back of the room behind a dangling corpse. A woman in black hung from her neck. Optimus recognized what suspended her as a rope, and could only imagine that the poor woman had resorted to suicide.

Then she lifted her head and stared at him through her veil. She stepped easily down from the rope and offered the noose to Optimus, to put his head through the hole and...hang out for a while.

He backed up and pressed against the door. Appleseed whimpered. Optimus looked back at the children.

They were pale. They had no eyes, none that Optimus could see. They were dressed in dresses, dirty clothes that could have been specially reserved for playtime, pajamas...whatever they were wearing when they had perished. So when he recognized one pair of pajamas in particular, his shoulders dropped. "Barley."

The little boy lifted his head and stared at Optimus. He watched him. He didn't move as the woman stood behind him and placed her hands on his shoulders possessively.

Optimus closed his eyes, looking away. "Barley..." When he opened them, they were all gone. Even Barley.

The door swung open and he took his chance, bolting down the stairs in time to see...no one. Everyone was gone.

Everyone.

Optimus swore and spun around, calling for anyone. "Ratchet?" No response. But doors were slamming shut and children were giggling distorted giggles. "Ultra Magnus?" He spun around. A child ran into the left room and looked back at Optimus before it slammed the door. It locked with a click, but the right room door swung open.

Optimus looked down at Appleseed, who was hyperventilating and hiding her face in his chest. He stroked her hair and sighed into her head.

He looked over at the open door and stared as children filed out of it, one by one. Among them was Deerstep. He backed away and closed his eyes. How had she gotten away from Wheeljack and Bulkhead? The only reason she would be away from them was if they were dead somewhere in this house... He bit back his howl of pain and he spun around to run, but the woman was walking down the stairs to meet him.

He backed up as far as he could go without coming close to the children. He glared at the woman, glared back at the children, then hugged Appleseed against his chest. "Where are they?"

The woman stopped and stared at him questioningly before she began to advance. She reminded him of Airachnid, making people feel what she felt, never stopping, not even to question what she really felt. As far as both of these women were concerned, they still had debts to settle.

 _Feel how I felt, die how I died, never forgive. Never forgive!_

Optimus was backed into a corner and he sunk to the floor, curling protectively around Appleseed. He watched her eyes as they stared up at him pleadingly.

The children advanced as well, as if curious to see what was going to happen. They pressed up against the woman, clutched at her dress as if she was their mother. And perhaps she was now, the only adult that noticed them, kept them, entertained them with what she had to offer: killing and stealing children.

Optimus refused to look at any of them until they were nearly upon him, the woman bent over Optimus. She opened her arms, as if offering to take Appleseed from him, and she stood like that for a long time, staring straight into Optimus' eyes. Then her face scrunched up and she screamed at him. It sounded like a train was crying out.

The Prime zipped his jacket up to his neck and closed his eyes. Let them try to take her, he thought. Let them try.

When he opened his eyes again, heat warming his face, they were gone, but the sun was rising. He heard doors open and he heard his team call out to each other.

"Are you guys okay?"  
"I'm okay!"

"Deerstep is gone!"  
"Where's Optimus!?"

Arcee ran down the stairs, her hands empty. Optimus jumped up to wrap his arms around his mate and he pressed his face into her head as he unzipped his jacket and deposited Appleseed in his arms.

But she was limp. Optimus cried out and turned away, grabbing at his hair and tugging hard in frustration. He had her in his arms! He had had her! Now she was dead? What cruel punishment was this?

He felt Wheeljack pat his shoulder. He heard Ratchet announce she had died from shock. Optimus pressed his face into the wall. When he spoke, his voice was hoarse. "Where is Lily?"

He rounded on his mate. "Where is she? Where is our daughter?"

"Safe, Optimus... She is with Bumblebee."

Optimus turned his head to see Bumblebee cradling his daughter. He spotted a bandage on her arm and he sighed before he brought a palm to rest on his forehead. "We need to get out of here before anyone else dies..."

The Autobots started for the door. Optimus experimentally opened the door, finding no woman, no children. He stepped outside and looked at the bus, but decided against it. Barley was still in there. He wasn't ready to go inside it again. He turned to the team. "Any ideas?"

While Ratchet suggested walking, Optimus looked up and saw the woman and children watching from the windows, glaring at the Autobots.

"Walking it is," Optimus said and he shoved his team in front of him, herding them onto the road.

When the woman screamed, he heard a window shatter. The team hurried faster.


	5. Chapter 5

Optimus made his team run down the long road flanked by water. He could hear children giggling and briefly he thought he saw them swimming in the water, trying to get to them, but unable to reach them. He pressed his mate ahead of him. He grabbed Lily from his mate. She was faster without the extra weight.

They made it into the dead village by the time the sun set, frowning on their efforts. He tucked the team into a little house that had obviously suffered some sort of fire, which was unfortunate. It was a beautiful home.

He laid Lily down on one of the beds, then gathered his team around him. "We have to find some way to get out of here. Look for bikes, cars, buses..."

Ratchet spoke up. "Optimus, this place has been isolated from the world for years. They didn't have cars before, and they would not have cars now. I'll put all bets on bikes."

"Or our own two feet," Wheeljack piped up. He shrugged and patted his grenade absently out of habit. "I wish we could have destroyed that house, though...gone out with a bang."

"That would have been catastrophic. What if the woman saw this as an aggressive attack and came after us? After Lily?"

Ultra Magnus looked over Optimus' shoulder. "Where is she anyway? I thought she was here...I thought she made it out. Did you not have her in your arms earlier?"

Optimus turned to point to his daughter, and then he froze.

She was gone.

"NO!" He ran outside and saw the woman walk down the road, away from the village and to the house. "LOOK FOR THOSE BIKES NOW!" He ran after her, hearing his beloved baby sob for her sire and carrier. "Give her back!"

The woman looked over her shoulder at him, blinked, and then Optimus was ambushed by the children. Barley was gripping his knees and pulling him down. Deerstep was clinging to one arm and Appleseed the other. Several other children were grabbing at his limbs, clothes, and hair. They tugged roughly and kept him on the ground while the woman walked away with Lily.

Optimus felt a rush of anger and he got up, growling at the children. They retreated and hid in the rubble. "Leave me and my family alone!" He fixed his eyes with their dark ones, then he continued running.

Barley followed close behind.

The woman shut the door of her house behind her, carrying the baby to the nursery. She laid her down on the bed that had belonged to her son. She stroked her cheek, her head, played with her little dress. It was beautiful. The baby was beautiful. She was perfect. How would she kill the baby? Drown it in the marsh, perhaps? Snap its neck? Let it drop down the stairs?

Before she could make her decision, Optimus was behind her.

"Jennet," he whispered. "I believe you have something that belongs to me," he began. As Jennet turned, she caught sight of a bundle of cloths that concealed her own son. "And I have something that belongs to you."

She froze, then relaxed. She just stared at her son. After that evil man buried her son in her grave, she had pulled him back up and laid him in her bed. She waited for him to come back to her, just as the other children had, but he was gone. He had gone where she couldn't follow.

Optimus saw her relax and he realised his mistake. She didn't care about her son anymore. She wanted more and more babies to replace the ache in her heart, and the latest victim was his own Lily.

"I know it hurts, Jennet..." He closed his eyes and pulled out a locket he kept pressed against his chest. It was old, worn, and the gold was fading off it, but it held the picture of a family he lost to the war. "But the pain fades. All pain heals with time."

She stared at him, looked up into his eyes, then moved back to the baby as if to lift her up and surrender him. But instead, she bolted, heading to the stairs. The drop should break its neck, or at the very least, its ribs, that would break and puncture its little heart and little lungs. But that man was back, screaming for his daughter. How was he so attached to the little one?

She held it over the stairs as a threat, and Optimus held a match under the remains of her baby. She stared at the flame as it licked at the cloth and threatened to burn it. She shook Lily, making motions and empty threats to let her go, but she was busy staring at Nathaniel...

"Please..." Optimus pleaded, moving the match away from the baby's body. "I could bring him back..."

She looked back up into his eyes, and this time she didn't move. She dropped Lily on the floor and snatched Nathaniel back, looking over his little body and touching his cheek. Meanwhile, Optimus pulled a blue crystal pendant out of his pocket. "This is the Matrix..."

She looked up.

"It revives the dead, sometimes."

She stared at the crystal.

"And if you promise to leave everyone alone, I will let you have your son."

She went to grab at it, but he jerked it out of reach. That was when a grenade crashed through the window and it ticked down the seconds.

Five.

Optimus grabbed Lily.

Four.

Optimus ran.

Three.

He hurried down the stairs. Lily was crying. Jennet was screaming.

Two.

Optimus wrapped his hand around the knob, felt Barley's hand on his knee.

One.

He looked down, whined softly at him, and ran out.

The explosion blew him forward and the old house caught fire.

Wheeljack ran to him and he grabbed his leader, pulling him far away from the fire. The house was screaming, and so was Jennet and the children.

"I told you I refused to go out without a bang!"

Optimus was staring at his daughter, who was whimpering and gripping his shirt. He kissed her head tiredly, then the world faded to black.

When he woke, he was still on the ground. The only difference was that his head was in Arcee's lap.

"The spirits. They've gone."

"They will not be gone for long. They are merely recovering. We must hurry home, hurry out of this blasted village!"

"We are waiting for a train to jump onto."

Optimus settled. Then sat up. "Lily."

"She is with Ultra Magnus."

"I must see her. Let me see her!"

Ultra Magnus walked over and knelt. Lily was sleeping in his arms, her skin burned and blackened from soot, but she would be okay, according to Ratchet.

Jennet watched from the shadows, planning everything from a distance. Barley put the last pebble on the tracks, then ran back to watch the explosion next to his new caretaker.

"Never forgive," she whispered. The train derailed and exploded. Lives were lost, including those of the Autobots.

Wheeljack would have been proud, she thought as she stroked Barley's head. He went out with a bang.

Lily was being carried to her by Optimus. The Autobots were joining her. She was thrilled to have new friends. She led them back to the house, which had rebuilt itself. Wheeljack made a soft sound of disappointment, but walked inside after everyone else.

 _Welcome home,_ she cooed, and she sat back in the nursery, rocking the chair back and forth, back and forth, back and forth.

The Autobots, the children, they watched her, their eyes black. And they waited.


End file.
